, native_name_lang = , name_other = , name_etymology = , image = , image_size = , image_caption = , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_size = , pushpin_map_caption = , subdivision_type1 = Country , subdivision_name1 =

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, subdivision_type2 = Region , subdivision_name2 = , subdivision_type3 = Townships , subdivision_name3 = , subdivision_type5 = Cities , subdivision_name5 = , length = , width_min = , width_avg = , width_max = , depth_min = , depth_avg = , depth_max = , discharge1_location = Yangon River , discharge1_min = , discharge1_avg = , discharge1_max = , source1 = Sinhnamaung Mountain, Gyobingauk Township, Bago, Myanmar , source1_coordinates = , source1_elevation = (approximately) , source2 = Dawe Dam and Reservoir,

Letpadan Township Letpatan Township ( my, လက်ပတန်းမြို့နယ်) is a township in Tharrawaddy District in the Bago Region of Burma.

, Bago, Myanmar , source2_coordinates = , source2_elevation = (approximately) , mouth = Yangon River , mouth_location = Monkey Point,

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, Myanmar , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = Bago River→ Yangon River→

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated fro ...

, river_system = , basin_size = , tributaries_left = , tributaries_right = Bago-Sittaung Canal , custom_label = , custom_data = , extra = Bago River ( my, ပဲခူးမြစ်; Pegu River) is a river of southern

. It flows through Bago and

, joining the Yangon River south of downtown Yangon.Schellinger, Paul E. and Salkin, Robert M. (editors) (1996) "Bago (Myanmar)" ''International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania'' (volume 5) Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago, pp. 60-65
page 60
The source of the Bago river comes from many streams in the hills of the Pegu RangeSeekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland
page 357
with the traditional choice for the source being Sinhnamaung Mountain in

Letpadan Township Letpatan Township ( my, လက်ပတန်းမြို့နယ်) is a township in Tharrawaddy District in the Bago Region of Burma.

. Modern hyrdological surveys find streams further north in

Phyu Township Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the Bago Region of Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some Brit ...

that feed into the Bago River Basin. The Bago River flows into Yangon Region meeting the Yangon River at Monkey Point, Botahtaung Township, below which the river is called the Yangon River. Bago River between That Pyu Village and Kywae Kue Seik Village

Bago River between That Pyu Village and Kywae Kue Seik Village

In 1608, the Portuguese mercenary

Filipe de Brito e Nicote Filipe de Brito e Nicote or Nga Zinga ( my, ငဇင်ကာ, ; c. 1566 – April 1613) was a Portuguese adventurer and mercenary in the service of the Arakanese kingdom of Mrauk U, and later of the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya.Rajanubhab, ...

, known as Nga Zinka to the Burmese, plundered the

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...

. His men took the 300-ton

Great Bell of Dhammazedi The Great Bell of Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီခေါင်းလောင်းကြီး ) was a bronze bell, believed to be the largest bell ever cast. It was cast on 5 February 1484 by order of King Dhammazedi of Hanthawadd ...

using elephants and forced labour. De Brito's intention was to melt the bell down to make cannons. but it fell into this river when he was carrying it across. Many people have tried to find the bell in the murky waters of the river, so far without success. Professional deep sea diver James Blunt has made 115 exploratory dives, using

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

images of objects in the area for guidance. To this date, it has not been recovered. Several Myanmar divers have died looking for it, including two navy divers who were trapped in a nearby wreck. The bell has since become an object of national superstition believing the search to be cursed and the bell's retrieval to be the key to the nation's rise out of poverty

References

Rivers of Myanmar {{Myanmar-river-stub